Here at ClimbingNarc.com we like to keep things light and have fun with the sport as much as we can, but some times real life has a way of forcing its way into the conversation. The most recent example is the unfortunate news that Mike Lyons, a well-known and heretofore well-respected head coach of the Earth Treks climbing teams in Maryland, was arrested yesterday and charged with the sexual assault of one of his team members after he admitted to having sex with a 14 year-old girl according to a criminal complaint. Via Jon Glassberg‘s Facebook page is this article from the local Maryland ABC affiliate that lays out the story (video embedded below):
Lyons was immediately terminated from his job at Earth Treks as a result of this news:
We are cooperating fully with Howard County police in their investigation. If you have any information that may assist law enforcement in their investigation, we encourage you to contact the Howard County police’s lead investigator on this case, Detective Aaron Miller (410-313-3200).
We understand that many of you have questions, and Chris Warner, Chris Jenkins and Scot Heidtman of Earth Treks will be available to answer as many of them as they can. We hope that everyone will understand that due to the sensitive nature of the police investigation there may be some questions that have to be referred to Howard County police.
At Earth Treks, our top priority is providing a safe environment for all members of our community. You can rest assured that we will do everything we can to work with the police and ensure that we follow through on that commitment. Again, if you believe that you have information that could be helpful to the police investigation; we encourage you to contact Howard County police directly.
Lyons was also suspended indefinitely from his work with USA Climbing, an organisation he has worked closely with for the past several years in several capacities including head youth climbing coach. USA Climbing released the following statement on their website:
USA Climbing was informed today by the Howard County, Maryland, Police Department that Mike Lyons, the head coach of the Earth Treks climbing team, was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a minor female.
We are cooperating fully with the Howard County Police Department in its investigation. If you have any information that you believe may assist law enforcement in its investigation, we encourage you to contact the Howard County Police at (410) 313-3200 or your local police department.
In addition, USA Climbing is conducting an internal investigation into this matter and Mr. Lyons has been indefinitely suspended from all duties and association with USA Climbing.
We know that many of you will have questions and we will answer as many of those as we can; please remember, however, that this is an active police investigation.
We are obviously deeply troubled by these allegations, and our number one priority is the safety of the athletes.
It should go without saying due to the subject matter in question that there will be a short leash for anyone that wants to add a comment, but if you feel you have something constructive to add please do so.
Update: It was brought to my attention in the comments that the 8a.nu profile for Mike Lyons, from which I posted a screenshot, is likely fake
A very similar thing happend with a youth group leader at a church I attended when I was younger. He admitted to his actions, then died of a heart attack in jail while awaiting trial. Though I was not directly involved, I witnessed the fallout. The emotional scars he inflicted on his family, friends and people who trusted him were apparent even years after everything happened.
My heart goes out to all of those affected Mike Lyons’ profoundly selfish and disgusting actions. I hope for the quickest recovery of the girl, her family and the Earth Treks community.
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Hard to believe, my son is on the team. Mike was an excellent coach.
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There’s a very special place in hell for people that commit those crimes…
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Its sickening, when one person dictates what people can and can’t talk about.
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I don’t recall dictating what people can and cannot talk about although there is no rule anywhere that says I couldn’t if I wanted to I suppose. I was merely trying to remind people the sensitivity of this topic since the internet has a way of making people forget their manners.
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“but some times real life has a way of forcing its way into the conversation.”
Nice, narc.
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I really hope this event does not deter people from having a consensus on respect for our sport, especially from the parents of young climbers in the face of Olympic consideration. On the upside its been good to see people portray this as an isolated incident disconnected from the likes of Earth Treks and USA Climbing. I hope they continue to get the support they deserve.
And for the record its ironic and never looks good when the head coach of a youth team posts on his 8a.nu profile that hes sponsored by tampax and hides in the woods from the police as an interest. Really? Anyway, just a thought.
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tip of the iceberg
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“charged with the sexual assault of one of his team members after he admitted to having sex with a 14 year-old girl according to a criminal complaint.”
I believe this is incorrect. He was faced with several charges of disparate severity. I believe he only confessed to some portion (potentially only one?) of these and to which it is unclear. It is possible that his offence is as limited as suggestive texts to minors, which would fall under solicitation I believe. Obviously it is possible that much more happened, but as yet that is uncertain.
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That’s not impression I got from reading many different news articles about the situation. It seems pretty certain that “much more” happened.
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It doesn’t really matter too much about the cogency of the accusations, either way its a great shame that a rock climbing gym will now be in the forefront of parents minds as a place where this could happen to their child.
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You might be interested to know that while Mike admitted to having sex with the 14 year old girl in the charging documents, the community is still trying to “make sense of things”. Part of this involves implying that the girl was somehow partially responsible. Mike has had a history of inappropriate behavior that has been commented on by parents and dismissed by those in charge. While I enjoy the free spirits of the climbing community, we must be clear about who is responsible for the crimes commited by adults. Mike also solicited my daughter for sex the night of the team sleepover–apparently one of his regular sexual solicitations of girls on the team.
There are simple policies that could be put in place and enforced to prevent this. Adults can and should speak to one another and their children, and take reports of inappropriate behavior as potential warning signs of abuse. Stopitnow.com provides some excellent fact sheets and reports for preventing child sexual abuse that gyms fielding teams should put into place to ensure the safety of their team members. If parents have concerns that aren’t addressed, we shouldn’t shrug them off, but take our kids off the teams. Team Earth Treks and the rec teams have been huge moneymakers for ET; the violation of trust is disgusting.
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Earth Treks Team Members: I do not pretend to know how emotionally difficult for you this must be, but if you’re reading this, keep faith that most people are essentially decent and trustworthy. And please find someone you can talk with about this. It may not seem so now, but it is critical to process, understand, and mostly to share your emotions. Try talking to a parent, counselor, spiritual leader, an older sibling even. Keep each other strong, and we hope to see you guys at the next comp!
This is profoundly devastating for the victim(s) as well as Earth Treks climbing team members. This shit smear of a person has robbed these kids of their innocence and ability to trust.
On a side note…
I’ve seen this non-human at my local gym every time we have hosted a competition. I always had a weird feeling about him, he always seemed “really friendly” with the team kids, but of course hindsight is 20-20. I hope this low life f*** gets the maximum possible penalty under law. And once the thugs in prison find out he’s a pedophile (and they will find out!) he will be handed a different kind of justice all together.
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do you really think posting his 8a.nu scorecard was constructive?
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Yes, it gives you a little insight into this loser’s psyche. From my above post “this douche seems a low class individual. 31yrs old and making “tampax”
jokes on his 8a, nice.”
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Yes. I hope now his bond will be revoked.
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My thoughts go out to the youth climbing team at Earth Treks in Columbia. This is a massive scar on the face of youth and competitive climbing. Even though I have little to no connection with the Earth Treks Climbing Team, as a member of the climbing community it sickens me to learn of these allegations. Let’s all remember; at this point, this individual has been accused but not convicted of any crime. Let us attempt to trust that our justice system will prevail.
That being said, this person betrayed the trust not only of his young protégés, but of all the members of the climbing community no matter of what charges this man is convicted.
Climbing Narc, thank you for reporting this terrible story and once again my heart truly goes out to the Earth Treks youth climbing team and the frequenters of the Earth Treks Columbia gym.
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Ultimately it’s the Coach Lyons’ fault, but you can be sure there was a chain of poor choices made by multiple parties (victim, parents, fellow staff) that led to this incident. I can only hope that everyone involved no matter how distantly will learn from this event.
I believe the coach and athlete relationship is quite often misused especially with children and particularly male to female, coach/athlete relationships. My fiance’s cycling coach ex-husband cheated on her with a female rider he’d been training since age 14.
This whole situation is not isolated to Earth Treks, climbing, or any sport. It’s rather more of an ongoing theme.
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David I don’t mean to pick on a single part of your post, but children make poor choices. That’s why as adults we are tasked with helping them make the right choices. In absolutely no way should a 14 year old girl be held accountable. Even if she threw herself at him, as an adult, it’s his job to still do the right thing.
Yes, innocent until proven guilty, but admission of guilt kind of negates that.
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You are always responsible for you own choices. If you know right from wrong and choose wrong, that’s your choice no matter what the age. Every situation is a culmination of choices between separate individuals. It goes without saying that adults hold the cards to the outcome in these situations but that doesn’t mean the aforementioned truth doesn’t apply.
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You are always responsible for you own choices. If you know right from wrong and choose wrong, that’s your choice no matter what the age. Every situation is a culmination of choices between separate individuals. It goes without saying that adults hold the cards to the outcome in these situations but that doesn’t mean the aforementioned truth doesn’t apply.
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David, I agree that in the end (if Mike did commit the alleged acts) that he is at fault and there may have been some neglegence towards inappropriate behavior. But it is never the victims fault. This was a 14 year old girl who was the victim, not an adult.
Also, good point that we should all learn from this tradgedy and if we witness or hear about this behavior than we should speak up about it.
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You are always responsible for you own choices. If you know right from wrong and choose wrong, that’s your choice no matter what the age. Every situation is a culmination of choices between separate individuals. It goes without saying that adults hold the cards to the outcome in these situations but that doesn’t mean the aforementioned truth doesn’t apply.
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I think the sad thing is that while the no kid is responsible as a victim, it is pretty clear that some kids are victims and some are not. Mike had many, many potential targets. It would be useful to gain better insight as to what we parents can do for our kids to make them less interesting as targets to predators.
I am not inot protecting my daughter form everything, but I so have this sense that self-esteem, open communication, love and values have a lot to do with providing a bit of protection.
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is there an update in this or are we beating a dead horse? i love beating the dead horse, especially now that the government is looking to lift a ban on horse meat. that means tenderized horse! beat that horse!!!!
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Just a big FYI to everyone reading this, M. Lyons’ 8a.nu page is fake. I went on a climbing trip with a girl from Earth Treks about 2 years back where she told me about how a few of the kids had gotten together and made a fake 8a for him as a joke..she even logged on to it for me to see. Hope this clears some stuff up.
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Also notice the routes that are logged on there..gives more evidence of it being fake.
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Fair enough. I guess in retrospect it would be hard to believe any adult, even one capable of committing these alleged acts, would maintain a page like that.
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I also thought it was odd how “comfortable” he seemed with two female members of his team last summer at the Red.
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My deepest sympathy to all involved. I’ve had the privilege of being a member of the ET community for just over half a decade. I have a genuine friendship with a number of current and past junior team members as well as ET staff at all locations. It has been hard on all members of that family, and will continue to be hard for some time to come. ET has always treated its athletes and staff like close family, and at times that brought with it a comfort level that might seem awkward or inappropriate to those outside of it. That said, this is not one of those times, and if he is guilty as accused, Mike is due any and all he is sentenced to, I will make no excuses for him.
I do ask this, please, if/when you see Team ET at Nationals this week, don’t bombard them with questions or scorn. Admittedly, policy mistakes were made (this is why the BSA requires Youth Protection Training etc). However, this has been a major blow to the community and the team members and associated staff, and some are having a hard time coping. Some of the coaches have worked with Mike for years, and some are former Team ET alumni, and this experience has been jarring for them. Please keep that in mind as you interact with them throughout the weekend.
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89% of
Sexual Predators have close relationship with their victims. Those predators
typically carryout 4 stages of abuse, each stage prepares the victim for the
next stage. Not every abuse is the same, but most follow a similar pattern.
Stage #1 Intimacy
and Secrecy
The Predator
may share personal information that speaks into the life of the victim, and
that bonds the victim into a special relationship.
Stage #2
Physical Touch that Appears Appropriate
The hug
after a comp or stretching the sore muscles. Mike found a way to hide his
motivates within the coaching relationship. In Stages #1 and #2 no alarms
should have been raised. These behaviors are closely related to coaching, but
there true intent is dramatically different. Intent is a hard thing to discern
and ultimately it is what defines an abuser. Mike intended to abuse these
children before the defined sexual acts.
Stage #3
Sexual Abuse Proper
Sharing
stories of first sexual experience, inappropriate sexual humor and invitations
to talk about sexual thoughts and feelings. This is where Earth Treks failed
these children, and they will have to answer some hard questions about their
protocols and behaviors. Mike and Earth Treks can be held liable in civil
litigation up to 7 years after the victims 18th birthday. In
Maryland there is a movement to extend that timeline into the victim 40s,
because that when most victims seek help and are prepared to face their abuser.
Many people have noted Mike’s inappropriate sexual humor toward Youth. This may
have been the only sign of his true intent. Each stage is a form of abuse,
because of its intent and relationship. This is the stage most people define as
abuse. Conversations quickly turn into sexual kissing. touching and eventually
rape.
Stage #4
Securing of Silence and or Maintenance of Sexual Abuse
Pleads for
forgiveness, consequences of exposure, offers of greater privileges. Mike had
unrestricted and unsupervised access to youth. He gave private lessons,
organized over night-trips to comps and lock-ins. He ran a camp to Red River
Gorge. He worked with USA Climbing and was deeply involved in their events.
Earth Treks is going to have to answer some hard questions about how so many of
their members were concerned about is inappropriate sense of humor.
USA Climbing
needs to list all the Gym/teams along with the time line he was working with
them, so parents can determine if Mike worked with there children. They also
need to list all of the competitions and events he worked, with dates. From a
liability perspective this is a nightmare, but it’s the right thing to do,
which trumps liability. There is a probability that more children were affected
and they will need help. I know this is controversial issue to post online and
a sensitive one, but in the climbing community we are about empowerment and
there are many people who need to read this story to be empowered. My heart
goes out to the victims of these evil crimes and to their families, friends and
the great climbing community that surrounds Maryland and Earth Treks.
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there is no evidence that he is a predator. your paranoid ramblings aren’t helping.
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@35b36c8f06063b3aafa81e617e50f659:disqus . “I’ve seen this non-human at my local gym every time we have hosted a
competition. I always had a weird feeling about him, he always seemed
“really friendly” with the team kids, but of course hindsight is 20-20. I
hope this low life f*** gets the maximum possible penalty under law.
And once the thugs in prison find out he’s a pedophile (and they will
find out!) he will be handed a different kind of justice all together.”
didn’t I read something about CONSTRUCTIVE comments? but then narc turns around and lets the rumors and gossip start flying….. Orwell would be proud gentleman. Remember innocent until proven guilty? yeah me neither…
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edit: Mike has apparently confessed to at least one of the charges, so my innocent until proven guilty remark is not accurate in this case. I would still like to see comments remain constructive though. If your going to allow anything to be said (which is fair) please remove your ‘short leash’ comment. Already you(narc) have posted false information about the individual (8a.nu page) which fueled the gossip/rumor fire. Lets be adults, since that’s what we’re demanding of this man. Retracting the 8a.nu page was a good start, glad to see it.
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so prison rape is ‘justice’?
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Ok so if you seen this non-human at your local gym and you seen him getting “really friendly” why in the hell, didnt you report him. So what your saying is that you seen children that you felt were supposedly in danger and you did what? Not one damn thing so dont act like you seen S#*T cause you didnt, and if you did, and you did nothing then you should be in jail in there next to him. SO PISS OFF
I have known Mike for years and its hard to believe hopefully everything is found to be false I’d say that Mike confessed to in appropriate comunication but wont know tell it all comes out in court.
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So, in contrast, does anyone consider this photo inappropriate? I know, Obe is famous, but this this the family like atmosphere that many gyms, ET included, fosters.
http://www.urbanclimbermag.com/photo-video/photos/ashima_shiraishi_in_hueco_tanks_tx/index4.html
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“So, in contrast, does anyone consider this photo inappropriate? I know,
Obe is famous, but this this the family like atmosphere that many gyms,
ET included, fosters.”
Isn’t that the insidious nature of sex crimes? As it was well stated above, people who commit such anti-social acts are well aware that society judges them harshly, but they also are well aware of how to hide their intent in socially appropriate gestures. Any long-term successful criminal knows how to hide within society while working without (I am making a huge logical leap–unconstitutional too–in assuming he is guilty of more crimes than those to which he has admitted; I will try, hard as it might be, to let the evidence prove me right rather than allowing my emotions to do so). I don’t mean to minimize the harm done to any of this man’s victims (actual, assumed or alleged), but I think what angers me so much about this crime (never mind what scares, and haunts me), is that a lot of very smart people were duped; he outsmarted us.
Have you ever been lied to, stolen from, betrayed in anyway by someone about whom you cared? The same feelings of hurt and anger–magnified because of the severity of the crime and the innocence of the victims–are present here.
I don’t know what EarthTreks and other organizations should do about potential victims with whom he worked, but I’m certain that with as much understanding as their parents can muster Chris Warner et al. will do the right thing.
I think Chris also took a lot of responsibility when he said that too much trust and authority was placed into the hands of a single individual. I disagree. We must be able to trust one another (though a healthy dose of skepticism goes a long way), but when our trust is violated in such a tremendous way we must ensure that the violation is punished appropriately. Mr. Warner, if you read this, I hope you know that your mea culpa is respected and appreciated, but I don’t fault you for being prey to this man’s deception.
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It just keeps getting worse for the ET climbing team:
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-07-11/news/bs-md-rock-climbing-sex-offense-20110711_1_rock-climbing-arrest-howard-county-detention-center
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Wow!!!, I dont even know what to say… utterly disgusting.. I know my kids will never go back to those facilities again and if i was the parent of one of those girls i would not rest untill my pockets were full and they were run out of town.
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Nice lets make sure your pockets are full, were you one of those parents that let there kid stay with a certain famous ICON then settle out of court. But what the hell you got money in your pocket!
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I’m the parent of a child team member Mike coached years ago. This is when he first started coaching, and he is an expert in climbing and training. A lot of the children he coached had learned a lot about self esteem, growth and have reached high places and goals they my never have conqured. As a parent I have traveled a far, stayed in hotels, camped and slept in vehicles with him and the team. I am a protective parent and if this did take place, I’m all for justice, but I want to keep an open mind to the fact that there are two sides to every story, and when your dealing with children (who are influenced by adults, that’s how they learn) it can be difficult to determine the truth. I miss Mike Lyons and his passion for climbing and coaching.
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Hey folks, by now you may know that both Mike and Dan have pleaded guilty to one felony count and one misdemeanor, respectively. Mike’s sentencing will take place in February but Dan has been sentenced to 18 months suspended with 2 years of supervised probation, as well as some other conditions. He is eligible for probation before judgment, meaning his record may be expunged at some point.
I would love for the climbing community to now WAKE UP and realize that our laid-back attitude maybe makes our children even more likely targets than children in Scouts, church or other sports. I like to think that, compared to other sports we are supportive of one another rather than competitive (openly), which is awesome, but also makes it harder for us to think ill of people who have deviant behavior.
I ask that those of you who have been denying the crimes that were committed please try hard to change your way of thinking and say to yourself, “child sexual abuse”. It’s going to be hard to put appropriate policies in place to protect our children when people are still trying to convince themselves that those who committed these crimes are not guilty for some reason or another. Let’s not let it happen again.
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I cringe when I hear people calling on the climbing community to wake up and changes its ways. With three kids in competitive sports I have come to the view that climbing creates the most positive environment for kids. In swimming and golf I have watched parent hurl abuse at kids, move balls and all kinds of foul play.
Yes, we need to be vigilant, but this very odd incident does not cry out for wholesale change. Leave that for Penn State.
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Agreed, there is much to like about the sport and the athletes and there are a lot of subtlities that have come out as part of the record in this case to suggest a fairly unique set of circumstances. Nothing excuses the age difference or poor judgement involved, but it is a little unclear that a serial predator is involved. Maybe this time it was caught early and opposed to the Catholic Church or Penn State.
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Today, the coach was sentenced to 15yrs with all but 4yrs suspended, less time served, which at present has been just over 7 months. Upon his release he’ll be on 5yrs unsupervised probation. He’ll also be a Tier 3 registered sex offender for the rest of his life. He does have the option to appeal the sentence and also have it reviewed by a three judge panel. Upon the conclusion of the sentencing he was lead back to jail in leg and handcuffs.
~a witness
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Correction: 5 yrs “supervised”probation
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